


Switching Sides

by unlimitedcity



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Humor, M/M, contemporary, nomin, norenmin, romcom, side markhyuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 12:38:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15995387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unlimitedcity/pseuds/unlimitedcity
Summary: Polar opposites. Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno are too different... two different individuals. Night and Day. Yin and Yang. However upon a chance encounter, the Night meets the Day. The planets align, two different worlds collide. Two souls in exchange for a beautiful yet bumpy journey awaits the Sun and the Moon.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello, loves! This will be my first chaptered fic here in AO3. I hope you'll love this as much as how you loved my previous one shot entries (if you read them).  
> this fic will be updated on an IRREGULAR basis since I still have a life apart from my pen and paper. thank you very much! and i hope you enjoy reading this. (English is not my native language so if ever I missed something after all the copy reading... please forgive me)

I am running late.

As always.

I almost trip on my feet as I scramble through the crowded metro. I shouldn’t have watched anime until 3am in the morning. And now because of my own recklessness, I just missed homeroom and would probably be minutes late for my first class.

 _Great job, Na Jaemin._ You really outdid yourself today. So much for trying to score that perfect attendance.

This wasn’t supposed to happen in the first place. Last night, after another episode of my own personal version of _No other woman,_ my parents’ never ending quarrel led me to find comfort in catching up with Kuroko no Basket.

But one episode led to another… a cycle of “Just one more episode,”

I stayed up until three in the morning and now I’m out of breath as I run towards campus.

First day of senior year and I’m late. I hope they cut me some slack.

Senior year of high school. It still feels like a dream to be honest. I can clearly recall when I first entered high school with zero expectations.

Will I be able to make friends? I doubt that. Who would want to be friends with someone as scatter brained as I am? I have the attention span of a 3 year old. I’m weird.

But my friend, Donghyuck, the only person who was crazy enough to be friends with me – maybe because he’s just as crazy as I am – once said “It’s okay, you’re good kind of crazy. At least you don’t go around eating pineapple on pizza, that’s psychopath in nature,”

I don’t know if that was supposed to make me feel better about myself or not. Who knows? Anything Donghyuck says is in between the lines of _neutral good_ or _chaotic evil_.

Will I finally have a boyfriend?

This… I’m still working on helplessly.

Even Donghyuck says I should just give this up. Not that he doesn’t think I can’t be in a relationship but because he says the person I’ve been wanting to be my boyfriend is definitely out of my league.

 _Huang Renjun._ He’s literally the ideal guy for me. He smells like vanilla (I accidentally caught the scent of him when I bumped into him last junior year during assembly), creates such beautiful crafts, his hands are so attractive I want to hold them tight and intertwine my fingers with it. And before I forget to mention, he sings too? Can’t he get any perfect than this?

But he’s out of my reach.

I can’t even properly initiate a conversation with him.

He’s all this and I’m just _that_. A crazy kid who dreams of spending the rest of his life to go on a quest to prove the existence of unicorns.

“They don’t exist, Jaemin,” Donghyuck says as I take my seat next to him. I just arrived and our teacher was busy writing something on the board to notice my arrival.

“You don’t even know what I’m thinking about,” I whisper back.

“You have the look. The unicorn look,” I roll my eyes and proceed to take out my notes.

Donghyuck tears off a sheet of paper and slides it on my desk, “I wrote down the requirements for homeroom just for you. Be thankful I covered for you plus this class hasn’t taken any attendance check yet so you’re safe for now,”

I smile gratefully towards him. This is why Donghyuck is my best friend… he’s just simply the best.

\-----

“Look at him, tell me he’s not perfect,” Renjun was seated by his usual table again with his own group of friends. Donghyuck and I were forced to share a table with some juniors named Jisung and Chenle. They were some of the kids Donghyuck made friends with over the break.

Jisung worked part time at Donghyuck’s family bakery. Chenle joined the picture since he was obsessed with the custard buns they sell and eventually clicked with Jisung.

“Who?” Jisung asks, playing the veggies on his serving. Without a warning, I hiss at this direction and push his plate towards him, “Eat your vegetables. You’re too young to be missing out on the nutrients,”

“But they taste like sh-“

“Language!” I raise.

“Korean!”

“I know Chinese,” Chenle mutters taking the veggies from Jisung’s plate. Obviously saving the former from further misery.

“Anyway, who’s perfect?” Jisung attempts to ask again and I shrug in response. Donghyuck rolls his eyes and pats the younger’s shoulder.

“Don’t mind him,”

The four of us continue to eat our own lunch.

This is actually the first time I’m sharing tables with people other than Donghyuck. When he told me we were going to eat with Jisung and Chenle, I almost pissed my pants and Donghyuck had to calm me down from going into frenzy. It’s not that I disliked them I’ve hung out with them over the break when I went to Donghyuck’s place… I’m just really not used to change. And I have big social anxiety. Even the mere presence of people inside this cafeteria makes me want to vomit the food I just ate.

“Hey, Donghyuck,” the four of us glance up in unison to acknowledge the person who came by our table.

Lee Jeno. Captain of the basketball team. Best friend of Huang Renjun. They guy whom I envy most. Imagine being the person closest to prince named Huang Renjun… what I’d give up to be in his shoes.

“Coach says he wants you to be back in training. You’ve been missing out on a lot over the break,” I see Donghyuck grimace in his seat.

After his boyfriend, Mark, graduated high school and left the team for real, Donghyuck has lost the motivation to stay. “ _I joined just to be with Mark anyway so what’s the point if he’s not part of it anymore,”_

But Donghyuck was an exemplary player. Over the shortest duration of training, he became equipped with remarkable skills in the sport. He’s a natural genius. And that’s crazy!

Even after all his efforts to leave the team, his coach pleaded for him to stay and play for his final year in high school.

“Fine,” Donghyuck replies, “Anyway, how are you capt?” he nudges Jeno, “I heard some big shot university called you the other day asking if you’re interested for an athletic scholarship,”

Jeno bites back a smile, “Yeah, I did. Renjun and I are planning to drop by later. There’s some fair later at their campus,”

“Wait, Mark’s university is having a fair too. Is it the same university?”

“I guess so. Hey, catch you later,” we watch Jeno jog his way to where Renjun and their friends were seated. He and Renjun exchange a special handshake and my insides swell with jealousy. He just held Renjun’s hand for a split second and I’m really questioning what Jeno did in his past life to be so blessed?

“Jaemin, you’re going to bore a hole if you don’t stop staring,”

“I’m not staring,” I defend myself. Shoving another mouthful of rice into my mouth, the two young juniors across me look at me weirdly. “This is going to be how you’ll spend the rest of your junior year if you plan on sitting with us. Do you have any problem with that?”

“As long as you don’t force me to eat vegetables I’m all good,”

Before I could argue back, Donghyuck forces himself in between the conversation, “Jaemin, why don’t you accompany me later. Mark invited me to hang out at the fair. It’s going to be fun! Plus, you-know-who is going there,”

My ears perk up in an instant. Renjun will be there! With Jeno but that’s not the important matter.

“Sure,”

Chenle edges on his seat, “Can we come along too?”

“No, you two have curfew. I don’t want to deal with angry parents,”

I agree with Donghyuck. I’ve had my fair share of angry parents already. No more.

\-----

I regret joining Donghyuck and Mark.

I have no problem with being their very own third wheel but what I did not expect was the shit load of people coming from every direction. Just the touch of shoulder to shoulder makes me jumpy. I want my bed and laptop right now… I’d rather watch some anime.

Donghyuck gives me an apologetic smile and I weakly return a wave of dismissal. I should be okay. I just need to calm down. I don’t want to ruin Donghyuck’s date with Mark. Ever since Mark left high school, he hasn’t been with Donghyuck for the longest time since he had a lot of things to prepare for university.

He moved into a dorm and his orientations started weeks ago. Donghyuck has been bothering me about missing Mark so much so I’m glad that they’re together right now.

“Hyuck,” I call out for him. He turns his head with an inquisitive look on his face.

“I’ll go to somewhere that’s less crowded. Call me when you plan to go home, let’s just meet up by then,”

Donghyuck hesitates for a second but I assure him by giving him a light tap on his back, “I’ll be fine. Trust me,”

Finally, Donghyuck nods, “Call me if you need anything okay? Bros before hoes,”

Mark gives him a funny look which he returns with a smack in the head.

After agreeing with this set-up, I watch the two disappear from my sight as they swim their way across the sea of people.

Man this is really suffocating.

I need to breathe.

I start to walk away from the pavilion and find a small area with white tents arranged vertically dressing the walkway. Most of them are just starting to set up their stalls perhaps they preferred to open at a later time when there’s more people.

Mark mentioned about a small concert too. Some famous celebrities and idols will be there. I hope they invite my favorite artist.

As if I’d be there in the first place. I don’t think I can handle being among a big crowd. Train rides during rush hour are more than enough for me.

By now I have passed a total of four tents and on my right side, an old lady was struggling with setting up her stall. Should I go up to her and help her? An icky feeling of anxiety creeps into my veins. I mean, why should I even bother to meddle with other people’s business? What if she just shoves me away? Or what if she thinks I’m just faking the act of kindness just to get something free from her business?

A loud thud. The table she was trying to carry fell harshly on the floor. Okay, I should really help.

With careful steps, I approach her. “Grandma,” I call with a shaky voice, “Can I help you?”

A smile settles on her lips, “Bless you, young man. I could really need some extra hands right now,”

Relief washes over me. Now, more confident than before, I stride to her tent and pick up the fallen table. Expanding the table to its sturdy form, I place it at the center of her booth. “What kind of business do you do, Grandma?” I ask, trying to start a conversation.

“I read cards,” she says.

“Like the future? That’s cool,” I couldn’t hide the disbelief in my tone. I’m not really a big fan of anything supernatural – unicorns are real they are not anything out of this world.

“I can sense that you don’t believe me,” of course, I was too obvious.

“Sorry,” I apologize.

The old lady shakes her head before erupting into an amused laugh, “It’s okay. You think in my line of work I don’t encounter non-believers? I’ve practically grown used to it. But they change their minds in one way or another. Because it’s true,”

We spend another 10 minutes setting it the booth up – I had to fix her light too. Before I leave two familiar faces pass by her tent and my breathe hitches.

Renjun and Jeno.

They were on their way to the pavilion and were talking about something that’s probably interesting since they both had this twinkle in their eyes. Renjun has such beautiful eyes and Jeno gets to see them up close. What a privilege. I wish I was in Jeno’s shoes. If only that was possible. I would love to indulge myself in the luxury of being with Huang Renjun almost every day of my life.

“You yearn for something,”

“W-what?” I stammer. I almost forgot I had company.

“I can sense your longing,”

“Oh, no! I just… it’s complicated,” I don’t even know what to say. It’s not like I should tell her about my one sided crush on this absolutely out of this world perfect guy! That would be weird.

“Would you like me to read your future? Free of charge!”

I smile sincerely, “It’s okay. Like what you predicted, I don’t really believe in this stuff. Thanks for the kind offer, but I’ll have to pass. I hope you enjoy your evening, Grandma. Please stay safe,” I bow politely and turned on my heel to leave.

“Young man,” I hear her from behind, “I will repay your kindness in some other way,”

Yeah. If we see each other again you can buy me bubble tea. That would be nice.

\-----

It was already past midnight when I arrived home. Mark proposed to drive me home but I’m sure Donghyuck was the one who told him to do so. I didn’t reject the offer since it was really late already and I don’t think my coward of a self can last a minute without freaking out in a public transportation vehicle.

Tiptoeing up to my room, I can hear my dad’s snoring from the room at the end of the hall. They aren’t sleeping together in one room again.

I walk up to my mom’s room and carefully turn the knob. I take a peek and see my mom holding onto the television remote as she peacefully breathes in her sleep. She tried to tire herself out by watching TV all night again.

It was never this way.

But everything changed.

This is why I hate change.

\-----

Eggs? Wait… it smells burnt.

I smell eggs?

There’s ringing.

I flutter my eyes open and squint at the harsh lights that welcome my sight. Turning my head to my left, I slam my alarm clock down.

7AM. Did I set up my alarm this early?

I have an alarm clock?

Maybe my mom left it in case she found out about me running late yesterday morning.

But isn’t it too early to be up? And is she cooking? Doesn’t she have to leave for work by 5AM? Why is she still at home?

I have so many questions. I should probably sleep a little more. It’s way too early.

I turn around and plopped my body forward against the mattress. Since when did my bed feel this soft? And it smells like mint. The last time I was on my bed it smelt like a bag of Cheetos and ketchup. Did mom change the covers? But she doesn’t have any fabric conditioner that smells like mint.

My mom _hates_ the smell of mint.

My eyes fly open. I am fully awake now.

I jump up to a seated position and take in the view that’s starting to make sense to me.

This is not my room.

This is not my bed.

The person cooking down stairs isn’t my mom.

That alarm wasn’t supposed to wake me up.

Who. Where. What. What the hell is going on?

I scramble up to me feet… or whoever feet this is and make my way towards the mirror from the other side of the room.

Oh. My. God.

“What the hell?!” I lose my sense of balance and grip onto the edges of the dresser in front of the mirror.

This is a dream. This is not real. This is _impossible!_

Why… why am I staring at Lee Jeno? Why is Lee Jeno the relfection projected in the mirror? Why am I Lee Jeno?

A phone rings from the bed side drawer near the alarm clock. It’s Jeno’s phone I’m sure of it.

Should I answer it? What is going on?! I should call Donghyuck. He’ll know what to do.

But I’m Jeno!

Or maybe I’m still dreaming. Okay, let’s try to go back to sleep. Maybe if I wake up the second time I’ll be back in my own room in the comfort of my dirty sheets and empty house.

The phone is still ringing.

I force myself towards the bed and take the phone from its place.

My number flashes across the screen.

What the _fuck?!_

I swipe the green phone logo and take the call, “Hello?”

“What the _fuck_ is happening? Are you Na Jaemin and are you in my body?”

“Lee Jeno?” I ask just to make sure. This is so weird. This is beyond crazy. This is chaotic evil. What is happening?

“Shit! What is happening? Do you even clean your room? Wait, no. That’s not even the least of my worries right now. Jaemin, we need to meet. This is… is this even real?!”

“Are you in my body?”

“Are _you_ in my body?”

I stand up from the bed and walk back to the mirror, staring across the reflection of a boy who’s obviously not me, not Na Jaemin, “Yeah,”

“Do you have any idea how this happened?”

The old woman from yesterday flashes through my mind and an uncomfortable knot forms in my stomach.

“I may have a clue,”

“Then we seriously have to meet,” I can hear him shuffling in the other line. Probably going through my stuff. “Do you have any clean underwear in here? Seriously, are you not hygienic?”

“Those are clean I just don’t fold them,” I glance around Jeno’s room. It was clean. Cleaner than what I presumed his room to be.

The knot in my stomach tied up tighter than before. I am suddenly short of breathe. The situation has finally come to comprehension in my head… and it’s overwhelming me.

This is impossible. This is not real.

Breathe. I can’t breathe.

“Jaemin! Breathe!” I hear Jeno call out but it feels like it’s me commanding myself to breathe since it was my voice that rang through my ears. Jeno’s words but my voice.

“I can’t lose you right now, okay? We need to talk this out. Calm down. I’ll drop by my house to fetch you. Looks like we’ll be skipping school today. Don’t lose your shit, okay? I’m freaking out too I swear. I’m walking on glass right now. But I don’t think panicking about the situation would help the two of us. We need to be reasonable to solve this… although this isn’t even explainable by reason. Stay there, I’ll be on my way,”

Jeno’s words but my voice. It seemed really weird hearing them.

He doesn’t hang up and I’m sure my phone bill would suffer from that.

I can’t believe I’m skipping school today. So much for hoping for a perfect attendance.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry if it took me a whole month to post this update. stream REGULAR!!!!
> 
> btw, let's be mutuals on twitter! would really want some moots over there AAA the un is @leonajaem BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

It felt weird… absolutely out of this world kind of weird.

Everything about the whole situation in itself is out of this world. Beyond rational thinking! How is it possible to switch bodies? Is there a scientific explanation for that? I tried searching it up on google before Jeno arrives… in my body. It’s really weird. I’m constantly reiterating the word “weird” because it _is._

I was in the middle of reading an article about black magic when a knock came and Jeno barged in without giving me a chance to allow his presence. Well, it is his room after all.

He came in clean and ironed clothes that I rarely use. How did he even find the iron in the first place?

We stared at each other for a good five minutes. Nerve wrecking silence and awe. Who knew I looked good in ironed clothes. Ok, that’s not actually the issue here but it really is fascinating to see myself in flesh. Not mirror kind of reflection but the actuality.

I think Jeno felt the same way too. He had an unreadable expression and it felt really uncomfortable to be looked at by your own self.

The silence was broken by Jeno as he pushed me out of bed to take a bath reminding me that it’s _his_ body and he wants it to be clean as much as a possible.

Is he a neat freak?

Okay but… how do I take a bath in his body?

Panic rises up to my throat and I suddenly feel like throwing up. How did Jeno even manage to take a bath? Did he?! Oh my god he’s seen _me_ already? This thought has never gone through my mind until this moment and before I could even stop myself I was already marching out of the bathroom startling Jeno who was busy tidying up his bed.

“I’m not taking a bath,” I declare.

“What?!”

I need a desperate attempt to escape this situation. Right now. Without giving him another chance to persuade me into taking a bath, I make a dash towards the door rushing down the stairs eventually leaving the Lee residence. I wasn’t even wary of how I managed to maneuver the unfamiliar household. Adrenaline rush played a big part in getting me out of it I guess.

Jeno follows afterwards, my long legs falling behind my body as he runs out of the house. Trying to catch his breath, he points at me threateningly, “Don’t just run out like that! Your body isn’t exactly as athletic as mine. Even a flight of stairs can tire me out!”

That’s when I realize I’m not even panting from that sprint. Is Jeno that athletic and am I really… weak?

“Why won’t you take-“

“Can we talk about the issue now? I don’t think taking a bath is the priority,” I try to sound as sincere as possible with the offer. I really don’t want to take a bath at the moment. I really can’t. It just sounds so wrong, if you get what I mean. I’m not even sure how Jeno managed to do it and I don’t think I would want to know.

I seriously wouldn’t want to know.

Not knowing how to act, the two of us maintain some distance between us. I’m not really sure where we’re going but I entrust this to Jeno who seems to be very familiar with the neighborhood. It is his neighborhood after all.

Now that the two of us are walking in silence, my mind gets surge by overwhelming thoughts. How did this happen in the first place? I’m Jaemin but I’m in Jeno’s body. There’s Jaemin, my body, walking beside me in a disturbing distance apart, but Jeno’s in it.

Black magic? Voodoo? Ritual? Spell? Or is this science? But the lady at the fair isn’t some scientist. She does seem to be part of the black art. A shiver runs down my spine and a weird noise escapes my lips catching Jeno’s attention.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

Jeno shakes his head, “We’re here,”

Jeno brought the two of us to a small café a few streets away from his house. But it wasn’t just any normal café. Jeno leads the way, the bell chimes hanging by the glass door clangs against each other producing a sound that notifies our entrance.

A purr tugs at the end of my pants and I look down to see a small feline clutching its small paws onto my legs. It’s a cat café. I take a good look around and my heart swells with delight as I see different kinds of cats laying around the room. Some were rolling over some of the cushions, others playing with customers, and the rest were either asleep or entertaining themselves with the scattered toys.

“That’s Chu, she really likes me,” Jeno explains. I don’t process what he said as if it made no sense but when it finally sinks in I realize he meant his words because I was in his body. That must be the reason why the cat attached itself onto me the moment we came in.

“This is the only place I could think of at the moment. We can stay over there,” Jeno takes me behind one of the vacant table and we settle in silence. Both of us not sure where to start.

“Jeno! You’re back again!” an enthusiastic girl around our age comes by our table. She had a pink apron on and a sparkly nametag. _Seoyeon._ She must be an employee here.

She looks at me with bright hopeful eyes and a smile that must hurt by the looks of it. She spends an awkward duration of time looking at me and I helplessly glance towards Jeno for help but then I was met by my own face giving me a weird look. Right, I’m Jeno. Why am I so careless about this? And Jeno doesn’t seem to be struggling?

“H-hey,” I start licking my dry lips, “Seoyeon?”

Seoyeon doesn’t seem to pick up my uncertainty, the smile still on her face. Bet she likes Jeno. Her whole presence radiates with enthusiasm even with how she received our orders. She had her eyes glued on me and I took note of all the unnecessary touches she’d make like brushing her fingers against my shoulder and how she leaned in towards me for no pertinent reason at all.

“She obviously has the biggest crush on you,” I say the moment Seoyeon leaves our table.

A blush of pink paints my cheeks – Jeno’s blushing. I look like _that_ when I blush?

“She’s a good friend. I don’t see her that way though,” he explains.

Chu, the cat whom Jeno says is fond of him, climbs onto my lap and I stiffen in panic. I’ve never had a firsthand experience with pets since my parents are highly against it. I’m pretty sure schools don’t teach their students a subject that explains how to interact with cats right?

“Just give her a good snuggle, she likes that,” Jeno instructs.

So I did. And it gave a pretty nasty response and jumped off my lap.

“I said snuggle not strangle,”

I give him an apologetic smile and he shakes his head again. Is that a shake of disapproval or amusement? I’m not sure.

“Okay, before we veer away from the real reason why we’re here. Can you please give me an idea or at least the whole story why… we’re… like this,” he gestures pointing back and forth between him and I.

And so I told him everything. As in everything. Even the fact that I have the fattest crush on his best friend – I opted to leave this one out but Jeno wasn’t taking my lies about wanting to be him just because _you have such a cool life_ seriously. So I explained how I often thought about wanting to be him even just for a day so that I could be with Renjun, the lady at the fair that practices black art or something, how I never really thought this would happen, and of course I didn’t miss the chance to say sorry for dragging him into this mess.

Jeno silently listened to me the whole time – except when he can predict that I was stumbling over my words or when I’m trying to lie my way out. Seoyeon also came back with our orders which caused me to stop midway my story time.

“Okay, so let me get this straight,” these were his first words as my explanation came to a finish, “You like Renjun?”

I groan. I didn’t really want anyone else aside from Donghyuck to know about this but it’s such an inescapable situation, “Yeah,”

“Why?” Jeno asks incredulously as if what I said was so difficult to believe, “What about him?”

“Are you questioning my preference and are you really looking down on your best friend?”

Jeno shrugs, taking a drink from his cup of water, “Okay, I think the best way out of this is to look for the lady you’re talking about. Do you have her name?”

“No,”

“Any contact information?”

“No. Like I said, I just offered some help and after that I left,”

Jeno runs a hand through his hair in frustration, “Do you perhaps remember how she looked like? Her facial features? A description suffice enough to make an identity out of it?”

I trace her face in my thoughts, “Yeah, she’s kind of clear,”

Jeno nods, extending his hand out towards me, “Give me my phone,”

“What? Why? What’s the plan?”

“I’m calling Renjun,”

“NO!” I raise my voice loud enough to startle the small feline community inside the café. Seoyeon who was by the counter looks at me in concern and I force a smile back to assure her that I’m alright.

“No, we are _not_ calling Renjun,”

“But he’s the only person I know who can draw. He’ll be able to sketch through your descriptions. Plus we would need a third party to sort this out. An accomplice. He’s my best friend, he’ll be a great help,”

“And he’s my _crush_! I can’t let him know that this happened because I wanted to hold his hand so badly. Jeno, we can’t let him know about this. Please,” I beg.

Jeno looks at me carefully reading the situation. A heavy sigh leaves his lips, “Fine. But we really need an accomplice. We can’t do this all by ourselves. At least one person out there needs to know to help us get through this situation without slipping out of our roles,”

“Roles?”

“Jaemin, you’re Jeno right now and for the time being as long as we’re not back in our own bodies. We can’t keep on skipping school. You probably won’t be able to escape my mom too. You need to be me now… for real. You wanted to be in my shoes, right? Well you got it, now you have to play the part. But that goes for me as well, I’m Jaemin… Na Jaemin from this day onwards until we sort this out,”

Suddenly my vision is blurry. Am I about to cry? I think I’m already crying. How did this happen? Why is this so highly unlikely yet it just happened overnight as sneaky as the moon. I’ll be Jeno. He’ll be Jaemin. I’ll have to be the captain of the basketball team, the best friend of Huang Renjun, the ace of our school, the ladies’ man… I don’t even like ladies.

“Jaemin, are you still with me?” Jeno takes my hands. I didn’t realize they were already violently shaking. He clasps his hands around mine and tries to calm my nerves by drawing small circles at the back of my hand. It helps me a little… it’s such a sweet gesture and I couldn’t help myself but take a good look at him.

He was staring back at me in concern. Have my lashes been that long?

We’re talking about lashes now? Why do I have such a short attention span?

“Accomplice?” Jeno brings up.

“Oh, yeah,” I find words to utter and Jeno finally releases his hold on me. “Donghyuck, I think he’ll be a good accomplice,”

“Why?”

“Because he’s my best friend? And he knows the two of us. He’s in your team and he’s my best friend. He’ll be able to help the two of us get the hang of being… ourselves. And his boyfriend, Mark, can help with looking for the lady since the fair was held in his university. He may have connections to locate her,”

Jeno seems to be convinced with my reasoning, “Okay, call him.”

I ask for my phone and Jeno hands it willingly. I dial for Donghyuck’s number and put it on loud speaker. Relief washes me over the familiar feeling of my phone. At least there was something that’s still familiar within my grasp.

Donghyuck receives the call on the fifth ring, “Nana, where the hell are you?! I can’t keep on covering your ass during attendance. It’s already third period and I can’t keep using the infirmary excuse! The teacher almost threw a book at me when I said I had to use the bathroom just to take this call,”

“Hyuck,” I said.

“Wait, you don’t sound like Jaemin… who are you? Is Jaemin okay? What did you do to him? Is he hurt? How do you know my name? And you can’t just call me Hyuck!” Donghyuck rattles continuously which earns a snort from Jeno. I assume he finds this funny.

“Hyuck, it’s me. I’m Jaemin,” I say.

“No, you’re not. You can’t fool me. Jaemin doesn’t sound like that. If you were Jaemin you’d sound like some reptile run over by a truck,”

Jeno doubles over laughing from across me and I shrink in my seat, “That! That sounds like Jaemin and he sounds like he’s laughing. Is this some kind of prank? Jaemin, what the hell are you doing over there get your ass in school!”

“Donghyuck, I swear to god just hear me out first,”

Donghyuck sighs, “Okay, go,”

“I need you to see me. Right now. This is an emergency,”

“Are you actually inviting me to cut class?”

“I’m encouraging you to skip school,”

Donghyuck remains silent on the other line.

“Okay, fine. This ought to be a good ass prank or else I’m going to revoke this friendship. Tell Jaemin he better be prepared for some beating,”

“I _am_ Jaemin!”

“As if I’d fall for your prank. Send me the place, I’ll be there in a matter of minutes,”

Donghyuck drops the call and I hand the phone back to Jeno so he can send in the location of the cat café.

Silence enveloped us once again. My throat feels dry so I grab for my glass of water and take a mouthful.

“Jaemin, I have a question that’s been bothering me since this morning,”

I look over at Jeno, he had his brows furrowed and the water was still in my mouth, my cheeks puffed full of the cold liquid.

“Why didn’t you want to take a bath?”

I choke on my water and some of it explodes through my nose and mouth. It stings! I cough violently and Jeno had to rush over the counter just to get me some napkins. Still coughing, I reach for the napkin Jeno held out for me and wiped my face clean.

Is that seriously a valid question?

“I should be the one asking! How did you manage to take a bath?”

Jeno blinks, “I just did,”

_And it wasn’t awkward?_

“You just _did?_ ”

Finally realizing what I mean, Jeno flushes. Jeno gets easily flustered.

“Listen, that never crossed my mind. I _swear._ I just wanted to shower and change into _clean_ clothes,”

The blush was still evident on his cheeks and it complimented my fair complexion. He grunts something to himself and I ask him to repeat whatever it was.

“Nothing. Ugh, I’m going to have a difficult time taking a shower now,”

Chu, the cat, jumps on my lap once again and snuggles against my abdomen. She purrs in content and shuts her eyes close. At least someone among the three of us is completely unaffected by this whole fiasco. _Lucky Chu._


End file.
